Where have all the cooks gone?

Where have all the cooks gone?

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This forum has become unbelievably quiet lately - does that mean that our cooking section is so complete that no-one has any questions or ideas??
Or is everyone busy at the stove, preserving seasonal fruits for winter, and unable to sit at their computers?
¡Buen provecho! Tony

Rolly

Sep 14, 2008, 4:35 PM

Post #2 of 26 (9066 views)

Re: [tonyburton] Where have all the cooks gone?

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It means it's too hot to be in the kitchen.

That said, I have a photo shoot scheduled with Adriana on Tuesday. Story should be up by Wednesday.

Rolly Pirate

kwschopf

Sep 16, 2008, 8:25 PM

Post #3 of 26 (9017 views)

Re: [Rolly] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Rolly is right...I have little enthusiasm for cooking this time of year. Looking forward to your next article, Rolly - thanks.

sioux4noff

Sep 17, 2008, 11:28 AM

Post #4 of 26 (8989 views)

Re: [kwschopf] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Karen is much too modest. She made Chiles en Nogada (I hope I spelled that right) for a crowd of her faithful cooking followers the other night. It was delicious!!!

kwschopf

Sep 17, 2008, 11:53 AM

Post #5 of 26 (8985 views)

Re: [sioux4noff] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Muchas gracias, amiga!

sergiogomez

Sep 17, 2008, 1:16 PM

Post #6 of 26 (8977 views)

Re: [tonyburton] Where have all the cooks gone?

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No, es que comimos demasiado y tuvimos que echarnos una siestota...jaja.

No, seriously, I was wondering the same thing.

Carron

Oct 11, 2008, 8:03 AM

Post #7 of 26 (8913 views)

Re: [tonyburton] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Well, this cook has been gone to a remote ranch "off grid" for the past 3 1/2 years. In other words, no utilities of any kind, including refrigeration, so much of my cooking was heat and serve from the pantry. Killed and cooked a few chickens and cabritos, but the effort soon exceeded our enthusiasm for the final product! Our free-range hens were layers, but finding an egg or two was a daily hunt. We did prepare kilos of fine homemade beef jerky in the winters on a clothesline strung over our wood burning stove and I put up enough pickles and peppers to last the average family a lifetime. Our garden was finally productive, but once picked the fresh veggies were hard to keep in summer when temps often reach 108.

My husband especially needed a dose of civilization, so we have re-rented the house we used to live in in town and we now are enjoying both places. (Same landlord for both.) I am not quite settled in enough to do much cooking and am still in "pantry" mode, but here is something quick, easy, and delicious.

In a clay cazuela add a couple of cans of La Costana Frijoles Charros. Sprinkle in some crumbled bacon (raw pieces also work) and add a can of pico de gallo or use a fresh salsa (which I can buy already made at the store). Bring to a boil, then simmer until the flavors are well blended. Double or triple for a crowd. Use as a starter soup, the main meal, or an after-the-comida filler. Everyone will think you slaved over a hot mesquite fire all day!

bournemouth

Oct 11, 2008, 11:03 AM

Post #8 of 26 (8902 views)

Re: [Carron] Where have all the cooks gone?

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We love La Costeña Frijoles Charros and use them as a side dish with just about everything from arrachera to taco style things (anything wrapped in a tortilla is a taco to me),

When we were spending time in Sonora, it was a joy to me that you could walk into almost any food store and buy ready made fresh pico de gallo salsa - now we are in Jalisco I don't find the same availability and make do with Herdez salsa casera - for a canned product it really is not bad. I also find that pico de gallo in this area is a fruit salad type of thing - different names in different parts of the country.

I like your version of frijole charros and will try that. I took a huge bowl to a pot luck once and the hostess asked me if I had made them to which my answer was that La Costeña had done a special order for me.

Carron

Oct 11, 2008, 11:32 AM

Post #9 of 26 (8898 views)

Re: [bournemouth] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Herdez is definitely the best canned version. I simply could not remember the brand name.

NEVER (and I am shouting here) admit that you didn't make them yourself.

Mar 24, 2009, 2:09 PM

Post #10 of 26 (8544 views)

Re: [tonyburton] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Should be getting more foodies since the forum was opened to the public. I like to read about regional variations, but I would really like to see more about indigenous foods, recipes and ways of preparation some of which are probably prehistoric and would be a shame to lose. Is there anyone posting here who hangs out with members of a Mexican indigenous tribe? I bet that some like Huichols for example are still using some plants largely unknown even to Mexicans.

Mar 24, 2009, 3:01 PM

Post #11 of 26 (8537 views)

Re: [Jetski] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Jetski, I spend a good bit of time studying, talking about, and eating Purhépecha and home-style Michoacán cuisine.

Have you had the chance to look at Mexico Cooks!? The link is down below...

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

sergiogomez

Mar 24, 2009, 7:05 PM

Post #12 of 26 (8515 views)

Re: [Jetski] Where have all the cooks gone?

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You don't have to look far to find indigenous cooking in Mexico. A simple atole de maíz is a hallmark of indigenous cuisine that has been around for centuries and still forms a large part of the Tarahumara diet. Tamales are ancient enough for the conquistadors to have found them when they came over; southern tribes cooked them wrapped in large leaves, as they still do today. Foaming hot chocolate was a drink enjoyed by Aztec nobles. Pulque was drunk at fiestas, and peyote was used to induce altered states of consciousness. It's hard to get any more Mexican than nopales, tunas, yucca root, and cricket tacos. And even Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, the second-to-last Aztec king, ate tortillas and beans. Of course, that was a punishment to try to appease the gods. His normal diet included frogs, turkey, and wild fowl. Common folks ate roasted snakes and worms ground into cakes. Be careful what you ask for when you say indigenous Mexican food!

(This post was edited by sergiogomez on Mar 24, 2009, 7:09 PM)

Mar 24, 2009, 8:14 PM

Post #13 of 26 (8506 views)

Re: [esperanza] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Thanks Esperaza, I'll have to look through the Mexico Cooks site a bit more.

Sergio, interesting that you mentioned Tarahumaras as I was recently reading an article about medicinal and pot herbs used by that group and hence my posting.

http://www.laredosnews.com/...b2003/columns_03.htm

.

(This post was edited by Jetski on Mar 24, 2009, 8:16 PM)

MazDee

Mar 24, 2009, 8:53 PM

Post #14 of 26 (8500 views)

Re: [Jetski] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Jetski, I think you are in Mazatlán. Indigenous dishes aside, have you found any recipes for typical mazatlecan food that is special? I am having difficulty finding things much beyond marlin en escabeche that I would consider regional or local. And, I have a housekeeper who is a VERY good cook. I don't know of anything else she cooks (besides marlin) that isn't typical of another region in the country.

Mar 25, 2009, 12:27 PM

Post #15 of 26 (8467 views)

Re: [MazDee] Where have all the cooks gone?

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In Reply To

Hi Dee, yes we live in a rural community in the Mazatlan municipio. Being a seaport I think that Mazatleco dishes have been influence by every country as well as various Mexican regions and truly Sinaloa specific food don't seem to make it into either the markets or restaurants. In the country we do get Cauque which is a type of fresh water prawn, from the Baluarte, Piaxtla and Presidio rivers when the prawns are running but are only available if one knows ejitarios who live along the rivers and who fish them, the same is true for local catfish, trout and freshwater clams from those rivers. Deer, armadillo, tlaquache (possum), porcupine and other wild game used to be eaten in some private homes regularly in Mazatlan but is getting less common but are still major protein sources higher in the mountains. Ask your housekeeper if she knowns anything about aceite de tlaquache. ;-)

To name a couple of local fruit and vegetables not found in markets there are Guamuchiles, a tree seed pod with an inner seed covering which tastes like sweet garlic and a type of small red fruit or vegetable that is an orange-red-yellow color with a horny outer skin the seeds of which taste like sweet tomates, I don't remember the name of it though, and there are likely dozens of other local pot herbs and fruits that I haven't tried. Mazatleco food could be anything that comes from the ocean so any fish, shellfish, mollusc, etc and preparation could be anything from raw to the various types of cooking or smoking.

You have to remember that Mazatlan is relatively new town in Mexican history though as it isn't on a major river and the city water for example comes from wells 25 miles away in the Rio Presidio aquifer and the first Mazatlan Presidio was built at Villa Union also on the Rio Presidio. The major Spanish seaports in the area years ago were further south at either Agua Verde, south of Rosario or San Blas where fresh water was available. Before development and dredging of the harbor, Mazatlan was little more than a malaria infested swamp with a couple of native fishing villages when Rosario was already a 200 year old mining city so there is really nothing typical or traditional about Mazatlan anyway.

.

(This post was edited by Jetski on Mar 25, 2009, 5:47 PM)

Mar 25, 2009, 1:09 PM

Post #16 of 26 (8456 views)

Re: [Jetski] Where have all the cooks gone?

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In Reply To

...a type of small red fruit or vegetable which is orange-red-yellow color with a horny outer skin which taste like sweet tomates...

Does it have a very large stone for its size?

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Mar 25, 2009, 3:09 PM

Post #17 of 26 (8442 views)

Re: [esperanza] Where have all the cooks gone?

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In Reply To

...a type of small red fruit or vegetable which is orange-red-yellow color with a horny outer skin which taste like sweet tomates...

Does it have a very large stone for its size?

Hi Esperanza, these grow on vines twined on the brambles and barbed wire fences along ejido caminos on the banks of a couple of local rivers. I was first introduced to these by my wifes primo as when I asked him what the bright orange 'berries' were, he picked a few and started eating and invited me to do the same. The size is about 1 1/2 inches long by about 3/4 inch wide and the color a bright orange or yellow red. The skin is similar to a tomato except that it is thicker and has short horns which end in points but not thorns. The interior of the fruit is similar to a tomato with similar small sized seeds and internal structure with the flesh being of a tomato flavor. The best mental description I could give is think of a dried out oblong cherry tomato with thick horny skin, I think mi primo called them wild tomatoes but it's been a few years and I haven't seen these used in local cooking.

.

(This post was edited by Jetski on Mar 25, 2009, 5:09 PM)

Mar 25, 2009, 3:24 PM

Post #18 of 26 (8434 views)

Re: [Jetski] Where have all the cooks gone?

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I'm going to investigate! Thanks for the description.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Mar 25, 2009, 5:30 PM

Post #19 of 26 (8416 views)

Re: [esperanza] Where have all the cooks gone?

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In Reply To

I'm going to investigate! Thanks for the description.

Esperanza, looking through the internet I'm fairly sure that the plant I've described is a variety of Momordica Charantia or bitter melon with some info below, the edible part being the gelatine-like seed coverings which taste of tomato;

http://www.rain-tree.com/bitmelon.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq2JmwO9xik

.

(This post was edited by Jetski on Mar 26, 2009, 5:02 AM)

Anonimo

Mar 25, 2009, 6:21 PM

Post #20 of 26 (8406 views)

Re: [Jetski] Where have all the cooks gone?

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Jetski, this URL doesn't work.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/...macy_On_A_Fence.html

Rolly

Mar 25, 2009, 7:10 PM

Post #21 of 26 (8399 views)

Re: [Jetski] Where have all the cooks gone?

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This one will work better:

http://www.eattheweeds.com/...macy_On_A_Fence.html

Rolly Pirate

wendy devlin

Mar 26, 2009, 3:28 PM

Post #22 of 26 (8354 views)

Re: [Rolly] Where have all the cooks gone?

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México is the motherland(motherlode?) of so many food plants, that have been transplanted to other parts of the world.

Many of these plants, we recognize today especially in commercial terms as tomatoes, corn etc.

However, Mexicans have long utilized (seems to me) every edible plant, under the sun.
With panache.

And although modern times have led to hybridization etc. there still seems a place(at soul level?)
For utilizing this bountiful earth's necessary gifts. Even if other people, consider these 'gifts' weeds or wilder counterparts(precursors) of their more domesticated relatives.

Not to mention. Food as medicine.
In more than one way.

Mar 26, 2009, 5:57 PM

Post #23 of 26 (8341 views)

Re: [wendy devlin] Where have all the cooks gone?

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This is great news, Wendy! I see panache every week at the tianguis--next week I'll get some of my own to cook with!

<jijijijiji>

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

wendy devlin

Mar 27, 2009, 8:50 AM

Post #24 of 26 (8317 views)

Re: [esperanza] Where have all the cooks gone?

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In Reply To

This is great news, Wendy! I see panache every week at the tianguis--next week I'll get some of my own to cook with!

<jijijijiji>

Cyrano de Bergerac's last words...
" ... yet there is something still that will always be mine, and when I go to God's presence, there I'll doff it and sweep the heavenly pavement with a gesture — something I'll take unstained out of this world ... my panache

(This post was edited by wendy devlin on Mar 27, 2009, 8:51 AM)

tashby

Mar 27, 2009, 9:13 AM

Post #25 of 26 (8311 views)